Doodle breeds are extremely popular, but for one reason or another, you may want to rescue rather than buy a puppy.
Perhaps you want an adult dog so you don’t have to deal with the difficult puppy stage.
Maybe you want to save a life and feel the appreciation and loyalty that dogs that have had a rough start will give you.
Whatever your reason for adopting, Texas is a great place to consider adopting a doodle.
Below we have put together a list of 7 great Doodle rescues in Texas for you to choose from.
Here are some additional things to keep in mind when you are considering doodle adoption as well as some of the best places in Texas to adopt a doodle from.
Things To Keep In Mind When Adopting A Doodle
Make Sure The Doodle Rescue That You Are Considering Is Really A Rescue
Unfortunately, less than scrupulous breeders sometimes do anything in order to sell their puppies.
They may even imply or even blatantly state that they are a rescue, using words like “adopt” to talk about buying their dogs and “sanctuary” to describe their facilities.
If you see lots of puppies available from the rescue you are considering, double-check to make sure they really are a rescue.
Real rescues should have 501(c)3 nonprofit status or are at least working to gain that nonprofit status.
Your Adopted Doodle Is Likely To Shed And Have High Grooming Needs
Doodles are often put up for adoption because they both shed and require a lot of grooming.
This is especially true with mixes like goldendoodles and labradoodles that come from one parent that tends to shed a lot and another parent that doesn’t shed.
The mix of coat types results in a coat that is easily matted and requires a lot of clipping and brushing, but also tends to shed.
A rescue doodle is even more likely to have a high maintenance and shedding coat than the average doodle, since owners may have bought a puppy thinking that it would not shed or that the coat would be simple to maintain.
They may give up the dog when they realize this isn’t the case.
Consider An Adult Rescue Or Guardian Home For Your Doodle
Texas has a lot of breeders, many of which really do want the best for their dogs.
If you are having a hard time finding a doodle to adopt, you may want to consider adopting a dog from a breeder that may otherwise have a difficult time finding a home.
Breeders often have dogs returned as teenagers or adults.
Some people look to surrender their doodle because they can no longer care for their dog.
They may rehome these dogs at a significantly reduced price.
Breeders also may house their breeding dogs with families so that the dogs have a higher quality of life and the breeder can maintain more breeding stock without having to house dogs themselves.
These are called guardian homes.
Typically, the dog will live with you and be bred a set number of times.
Then the dog will be spayed or neutered and be completely yours.
An adult rescue or guardian home can be a great solution if you are looking for a particular type of doodle or having a hard time finding a rescue that works well for you.
Fostering Is A Great Option With Doodles
The majority of doodle rescues function thanks to foster homes.
Very few rescues have physical facilities.
Instead, they rely on foster homes to keep dogs until they are adopted.
Fostering is a wonderful way to decide whether you really want to adopt a doodle, or any dog for that matter.
Fostering allows a rescue to save more dogs and it can be a lot of fun as well.
Many rescues give priority for adoption to foster homes, although you may need to foster more than once or twice before a rescue will give you priority for adoption.
Fostering can be a great way to try out several dogs until you find the dog that is perfect for you and your family.
1.) Doodle Rock Rescue
Doodle Rock Rescue was founded in 2017.
Since then they have helped over 1,200 poodle mixes find their new homes.
The rescue was founded because as the doodle breeds became more popular, the founders saw that many of these dogs were neglected, abused, and abandoned.
They wanted to help these special dogs find wonderful forever homes.
Each dog is placed in a foster home where their health and behavioral needs are met and then, when the dog is ready, they are adopted out.
Doodle Rock Rescue is completely run on volunteer efforts and donations.
They are based in Dallas Texas, but they take poodle mixes from all over the United States.
However, they place priority on saving dogs from South Texas shelters which have extremely high euthanasia rates.
Many of the dogs they rescue are placed on the euthanasia list for medical or behavioral reasons and are not available to the public, so they would not be saved if not for a rescue like Doodle Rock.
Although Doodle Rock Rescue takes most of their dogs from shelters, they are also happy to take owner surrendered dogs and keep doodles out of shelters.
If you would like to rehome your doodle in Texas, you can simply email the rescue and complete a questionnaire.
The director of intake for Doodle Rock Rescue encourages anyone surrendering their dog to be completely honest about the dog regarding behavior, medical issues, and history.
Being honest doesn’t mean that your dog will not be taken by the rescue, but it makes it much easier for Doodle Rock Rescue to meet the needs of your particular dog.
If you would like to adopt a doodle from Doodle Rock Rescue, you will need to complete an adoption application for the particular dog you are interested in.
If you want to adopt more than one dog, you need to complete separate applications for every dog you are considering.
Applications are only considered for dogs that are currently available.
This is because the application varies depending on the particular needs of the dog.
In order to adopt, you need to be at least 21 years old and live within 350 miles of Dallas Texas.
You also need to be able to pick the dog up within three days of the application approval.
Any dog you adopt needs to live inside and be a part of your family.
Your current pets must be sterilized and you need to have positive vet references for them.
Yards must be fenced.
If you rent, a permission letter from your landlord is required.
Adoption fees vary from $150 to $750 depending on the age, breed, and size of the dog.
If you are interested in trying out a doodle before you commit, fostering is a great option.
Doodle Rock Rescue allows you to adopt any foster dog after the third dog that you foster to avoid having people use fostering as a shortcut to adopting.
If you would like to try out doodle ownership, this may be the perfect solution for you.
- You can view their available doodles here.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://doodlerockrescue.org/
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
2.) Doodle Dandy Rescue
Doodle Dandy Rescue strives to rescue doodle-type dogs throughout Texas.
They are based in Dallas County, but have relationships with shelters all the way across Texas.
They have over 500 volunteers that help to rescue abused and abandoned doodles throughout Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and more.
When they find out that a doodle is in need of rescue, the shelter volunteer quickly responds and ensures that the dog will be released from the shelter.
Many of these shelters have very high kill rates, so it is imperative that the doodle is rescued quickly.
The volunteer then provides care for the dog until it can be placed with a foster family.
Foster families are chosen depending on the specific needs of the dog.
Many of these dogs are heavily matted, injured, and malnourished.
They may also be very traumatized by what they have gone through.
Doodle Dandy Rescue has only been in existence for two years, but in that time they have rescued over 300 doodles.
While many of their dogs come from shelters, they also take dogs that are being rehomed from their owners, helping to keep them out of shelters.
They have seen a particular surge of rehoming situations due to the Covid pandemic that has caused economic uncertainty.
This is particularly a problem with a breed like a doodle that requires regular grooming that many people can’t provide at home.
The cost of not only feeding and providing veterinary care but also grooming to a family dog can be too high for families suffering from economic instability.
If you would like to re-home your dog through Doodle Dandy Rescue, you can feel confident that you will be treated with understanding and respect.
Just fill out the rehoming form on their website and tell them all the details about your dog and why you need to re-home.
Don’t feel worried about being honest.
Dandy Doodle Rescue will almost certainly take your dog regardless of any issues it may have, and being clear with them makes it much more likely that your dog will get the care it needs.
- You can view their available doodles here.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.doodledandyrescue.org/
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
3.) Poodle Rescue of Houston
Poodle Rescue of Houston has been in existence since 1999.
The Bluebonnet Poodle Club was looking for help with rescuing poodles and poodle mixes.
Guinnette Peebles, the founder, volunteered an acre of land in Houston Texas to become the Poodle Rescue of Houston.
Since then, thousands of poodle-type dogs have gone through the rescue.
Typically, there are around 50 dogs in the program at any given time.
However, sometimes they may rescue as many as 50 dogs in a single day.
Unlike most breed-specific rescues, the Poodle Rescue of Houston has a physical location.
They are located on land that is adjacent to the Prestonwood Kennels Pet Resort in northwest Houston.
It is a lovely facility with a curved flagstone pathway, an adoption building, and big indoor-outdoor kennels.
Dedicated buildings are present for grooming, storage, and administration.
There is also a veterinary clinic with a surgical suite located on the grounds.
Quarantine buildings enable the rescue of dogs that may have contagious diseases without risking the health of the other dogs on the property.
If you want a poodle rescue where you can actually go visit the available dogs, this may be the perfect rescue for you.
Five different visitation yards with tiki huts for shade give potential adopters plenty of time to get to know the dogs.
The Poodle Rescue of Houston takes a number of dogs from various situations.
They try to monitor the public shelters so that they can pull poodles as soon as they come in.
Often, these poodles have behavioral or medical concerns which mean that they can’t be adopted to the public, but need to be pulled by a rescue organization like the Poodle Rescue of Houston.
Poodle Rescue of Houston has rescued poodles in five states by pulling them from public shelters.
This rescue also will take stray poodles that have been found and breeder surrenders when well-intentioned breeders find themselves overwhelmed and unable to care for dogs with special needs or for dogs in their breeding program.
When puppy mills are prosecuted and the dogs in their care require a new home, the Poodle Rescue of Houston takes these dogs as well.
They are also happy to take owner surrenders.
If you would like to re-home your poodle or poodle mix, you can trust the Poodle Rescue of Houston to carefully screen and find the perfect adoptive home.
When dogs come into the Poodle Rescue of Houston, they are treated for whatever medical issues they may have.
They often need to shear poodles down to the skin because of severe matting, which can take hours of careful, dedicated grooming.
Poodles are tested for a wide variety of common health conditions including heartworms.
All dogs are microchipped, vaccinated, and put through a social enrichment program to get them ready for adoption.
If you would like to adopt a poodle mix from the Poodle Rescue of Houston, you can visit poodles at their facility or put in an application online.
You must be at least 21 years old and be able to provide information for your veterinarian.
- You can view current available dogs here.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Address: 13302 Schroeder Rd Houston TX 77070
- Phone: (713) 504-1224
- Website: https://www.poodlerescueofhouston.org/
- Social Media: Facebook
4.) Poodle Patch Rescue
For over a decade, the Poodle Patch Rescue has been saving poodles and poodle mixes of all ages, sizes, and medical and behavioral situations.
They are entirely volunteer-run and have no physical facility, instead housing all of their dogs in volunteer foster homes which are carefully screened and matched to the particular needs of individual poodles.
If you would like to submit an application at a rescue and be contacted when a dog becomes available instead of having to submit individual applications for individual dogs, you will appreciate that Poodle Patch Rescue keeps a waitlist for standard poodles and mixes.
You will need to complete a thorough application with vet references in order to be added to the waitlist.
You must live within 350 miles of Texarkana Texas in order to adopt a poodle from this rescue.
The application is extremely thorough and requires that you submit information about your living situation, veterinarian, and more.
All of the poodles and poodle mixes that Poodle Patch Rescue takes in are spayed or neutered, tested for heartworms and treated if necessary, vaccinated, and given whatever dental and medical care is necessary.
While they live in their foster homes, they are house trained and information is gathered about them.
Poodle Patch Rescue takes in many dogs from kill shelters, often dogs with medical or behavioral issues that mean they otherwise would not have been adoptable if they were not pulled by a rescue.
They also take owner surrenders, strays, and poodles from other situations.
You can view their available poodles here.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Phone: (903) 244-9137
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://poodlepatchrescue.com/
- Social Media: Facebook
5.) IDOG Rescue, Inc
IDOG Rescue primarily rescues goldendoodles and labradoodles, however they also take other poodle mixes and other breeds occasionally as well.
While they are based in Texas, they house dogs in foster homes all the way across the United States.
They also rescue dogs from all over the country.
As soon as they find out that a doodle is in a shelter, they utilize their volunteer network to take the dog out of the shelter and prevent it from being euthanized.
IDOG Rescue strives to take every dog that they can, regardless of behavioral or medical status.
However, that said, they only take dogs that they are confident in being able to treat or behaviorally rehabilitate and place in an adoptive home.
If you would like to re-home your doodle, IDOG Rescue is more than happy to help.
They understand that sometimes a family can’t keep their doodle, and they won’t place judgment on you if you need to surrender your dog to them.
They encourage owners to surrender dogs to them directly rather than putting dogs in a shelter.
By receiving dogs directly from families, IDOG Rescue hopes to minimize the stress that the doodle has to go through in the transition process, learn more about the dog from their current family, and keep doodles out of shelters.
If you would like to adopt a dog from IDOG Rescue, you can see available dogs on their Petfinder site.
Adopters are only considered when they are a reasonable distance from a foster home, so make sure that the dog you are thinking about is fostered near you before bothering to fill out an application.
Applications must be made on the individual dog that you are considering adopting, so you will need to submit a new application for every dog you would like to adopt.
You will need to submit information about your veterinarian and the care you give your existing pets in order to be considered.
Adoption fees range from $100 to $750.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Address: 6711 Stella Link Road Suite 344 Houston TX 77005
- Website: https://www.idogrescue.com/
- Social Media: Facebook | Twitter
6.) SNIPSA
SNIPSA was founded by veterinarians and volunteers to save unwanted animals in San Antonio and surrounding areas.
It doesn’t have a physical location, but rather houses dogs in foster homes until they can be adopted.
Since it was incorporated in 2006, SNIPSA has saved and rehomed over 19,000 animals.
Most of the dogs that SNIPSA saves come from high-kill shelters.
They go weekly to shelters and rescue dogs that otherwise would be euthanized.
Many of these dogs have medical issues like heartworm, severely matted coats, and dental disease.
SNIPSA Rescue accepts all sorts of breeds, not just doodles, but because they are so well equipped to treat medical and severe matting cases, they may be more likely than other all breed rescues to take poodles.
They are willing to commit to a lengthy process of rehabilitation when necessary.
Not only does SNIPSA rescue dogs in need, but they also reduce dog overpopulation in the area by offering free spay and neuter services.
They also hold clinics in which they sterilize, vaccinate, and microchip hundreds of dogs in a day.
If you would like to adopt from SNIPSA, simply fill out an adoption application online.
Adoption fees start at $250 and go up from there.
You can expect to pay higher adoption fees for dogs that have received more medical or grooming care, which is likely to be true of poodles and poodle mixes.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Address: PO Box 90325 San Antonio TX 78209
- Phone: (210) 237-9400
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://snipsa.org/
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
7.) Mini-Mutts Animal Rescue
If you are looking for a miniature poodle mix, Mini-Mutts Animal Rescue may be the rescue for you.
They take all sorts of small breed dogs, but at any given time it’s fairly likely that they will have a small poodle mix.
Mini-Mutts Animal Rescue takes dogs from high-kill shelters and also sometimes takes dogs directly from the public.
Every dog that comes into their rescue is spayed or neutered, tested for heartworms, vaccinated, and given whatever veterinary care is needed.
If you would like to adopt a poodle mix from Mini-Mutts Animal Rescue, you will need to be 25 years or older and not be a full-time student.
You will need to provide veterinary records for all the existing dogs in the household and agree to keep your new pet as an indoor member of the family.
Mini-Mutts Animal Rescue offers a one-week trial period when you are considering adopting with them so that you can be confident your new dog will fit well in your home.
This is a great feature if you are on the fence about adopting and want to be sure that the pet you adopt is the right fit for you.
Adoption fees vary depending on breed, age, and medical status, but $250 is the average.
- You can view their available dogs here.
Rescue and Adoption Details
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://mini-mutts.org/
- Social Media: Facebook
Adopt Your Perfect Doodle In Texas
Unfortunately, there are a lot of homeless dogs in Texas, including doodles.
This is a popular state for breeding, and while many breeders are responsible and dedicated to improving the breed, many more are just in it for a quick buck.
This means that lots of doodles may end up rescued from puppy mill situations or may be given up to rescues when they are too old to breed or not a good breeding option for other reasons.
It is likely that there are more doodles available in Texas than in many other states, so if you are looking for a doodle to rescue in this area, you may well be in luck.
Check out the rescues listed above.
There’s a very good chance that you’ll find the perfect Doodle for you.